A Denver city councilwoman has sparked controversy by proposing a race-based tax on white-owned businesses to pay reparations to minority-owned businesses. The idea has been criticized as illegal, divisive, and counterproductive.
The Proposal
Candi CdeBaca, a 37-year-old Democratic Socialist representing District 9, proposed a forum hosted by the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance on May 5, 2023. She said that capitalism was built on stolen land, labor, and resources and that a check today could not undo the cumulative impact of generations of stolen wealth.
She suggested that business improvement districts (BIDs), quasi-governmental agencies that collect taxes from businesses in a specific area for various purposes, could be used to implement a race-based tax. She said that BIDs could collect extra taxes from white-led businesses all over the city and redistribute them to black and brown-owned businesses that are struggling or not part of the BID.
She claimed that the constitutionality of a race-based tax was not a factor because BID taxes were voluntary. She also cited San Francisco’s Legacy Business Program as a similarly aimed system that supports long-standing small businesses at risk of displacement due to gentrification.
The Reaction
CdeBaca’s proposal was criticized by critics who said it was illegal, discriminatory, and harmful. They argued that a race-based tax would violate federal and state laws that prohibit racial discrimination in taxation. They also said that BID taxes were not voluntary once the district was created and that non-residential property owners within the BID were required to pay them.
They also challenged CdeBaca’s comparison to San Francisco’s Legacy Business Program, which they said was not based on race and was not funded by taxing only white-owned businesses. Instead, they said that the city’s general fund funded the program and that the race of business owners was not considered.
They also questioned CdeBaca’s logic and motives behind her proposal. They said taxing white-owned businesses would hurt the economy, discourage investment, and create resentment and division. They said CdeBaca was playing identity politics and trying to stir up racial hatred for her political gain.